My Five Word TL:DR Review: Twisted mystery packed with atmosphere

Alice Feeney is an author I’m loving.  For me, her books are the perfect combination of beautiful writing and strangely atmospheric settings that have an odd feeling of ‘not quite right’ that is fascinating to dive into.  Her books are unputdownable and so whilst this might not be my favourite (a spot still held by Daisy Darker) I find her work quite captivating.

As with her previous novels there is a mystery at the core of the story.  A man pines for his wife after she goes missing (presumed dead) a year ago.  Grady Green is an author who has hit a block.  He can’t write, he can barely sleep, his life has unravelled around him and he’s living in a one star hotel.  Grady is haunted by the disappearance of his wife.  His publicist eventually reaches out to him and offers him the use of her cabin (literally in the woods) on a remote island off the coast of Scotland.  The cabin is the perfect retreat, if a little tricky to get to, and Grady, and his trusty sidekick, a labrador called Colombo, soon settle in, even if, the people on the island seem a little strange or eccentric, there are no telephones, the weather is unpredictable, the ferry off the island seems to have stopped running, it feels quite often as though somebody has been in the cabin and Grady definitely feels like he’s being watched.  But, he’s writing again and for the most part totally immersed in his work – the only real issue, he keeps seeing his missing wife.

I don’t want to give away too much because the mystery here definitely kept me glued to the page.  So, what did I love about Beautiful Ugly.

The writing is great.  I mean, strictly speaking, there isn’t really a lot taking place and yet I was hooked.  This is more about watching Grady.  Which is perfect because Grady very much feels like he’s being watched.  At first I felt sympathetic towards him.  His wife was missing and his world has fallen apart – I mean, apart from the mystery surrounding Abby’s disappearance which I was definitely eager to read more about, I was fascinated just reading about Grady.  Basically, the Isle of Amberley is a very unusual place.  There are only 25 people living there and they all seem to have strange backstories.  Every time Grady leaves the local shop, or the butchers or the pub, he has the strange sense of being watched – usually accompanied by the crackle of a walkie talkie.  At first this just feeds into the ‘small island mentality’ expectation, everyone knows everyone else’s business, but soon it starts to give off a different vibe.  What is really going on.  Is it something sinister?

Similarly, Grady also begins to unravel.  At first you feel sympathy for him for his overwhelmingly hopeless sadness at the loss of his wife, and the way he seems to see her everywhere but as the story develops, and you learn more about the relationship between Grady and Abby, well, everything doesn’t seem as perfect as it first appeared.  On top of this Grady likes to pour himself a good slug of whisky, on top of drinking a homemade herbal tea from the local shop – you begin to slowly sense that he’s perhaps not quite as reliable a narrator as you first thought.  I was one part starting to feel creeped out – the bedroom scene in particular gave me the heebies – and the other part starting to wonder just how much we could really trust Grady.

The island is the perfect setting.  Unpredictable, beautiful and dangerous.  High tides and quickly changeable weather make the island feel like a character in it’s own right.  There’s a strange history to the place and an overwhelming sadness due to events from the past.  The other inhabitants are also quirky, almost difficult to click with, like, what is their problem.  You need to remain patient with this element – things will eventually become clear and in certain ways now I wish I could go back to the beginning and see how this reads now that I have the benefit of KNOWING.

Obviously, I’m trying to prevent spoiling the read for others so I’ll keep this review short and sweet.  I was hooked, I read this in just two sittings and regret not taking my time and savouring the read, perhaps taking a little more time to read between the lines.  The ending – well, I’m not absolutely convinced about certain elements or the actual logistics BUT I find that it hasn’t affected my feelings for the book overall.  This was a really good read, a fascinating mystery packed with atmosphere and a ‘just desserts’ kind of ending.

I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks.  The above is my own opinion.

My rating – a very strong 4 stars